HABITATS OF TROPICAL ORCHIDS. 



HABITATS OF TROPICAL ORCHIDS. 



RCHIDS are divided into two sections, the Terrestrial 

 and the Epiphytal. Those are termed Terrestrial 

 that grow directly in the earth. Such are the 

 species of Orchis, PhajuK, C<(la>ithe, Bletia, Ciipripediam, 

 Xeottia, Goodi/era, Epipacth, &c., which all draw their 

 support directly from the ground. The Epiphytal Orchids, 

 such as A'erides, Saccolabiani, Cattlei/a, Oncidium, &c., 

 grow on trees and rocks, from which, however, they derive 

 little or no nourishment, on which account thej are often 

 called Air plants. These are by far the most numerous and 

 interesting. Some are found adhering to the stems and 

 branches of living trees ; some of them delight in elevated 

 situations in lofty forests, while others grow upon low trees . 

 Some occur on rocks and mountains, some on trees over- 

 banging rivers, and some near dripping rocks — the latter, of 

 course, requiring a particularly damp atmosphere to grow in. 

 Those which are found in dense woods, where scarcely any 

 sun can penetrate, require a shady moist atmosphere, whilst 

 those found in more elevated situations do not need so much 

 shade as the last. 



A knowledge of the different habitats of the various species 

 is essential to the careful grower, in order that he may, as far 

 as his means permit, place them in circumstances similar to 

 those in which they make their natural growth ; and it is, no 

 doubt, to inattention, or lack of information on this point, 

 that the want of success in the culture of some Orchidaceous 

 plants, by even the most successful of our cultivators, is to 

 be in a great measure attributed. 



Epiphytal Orchids are found in tropical countries growing 



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